City Squares

I had never thought of belonging to a city as being a human right. After discussion on Tuesday it became clearer on why it is so important. That the city becomes a mouthpiece for the inhabitants. Realizing that the community of the city has the right to adapt and reshape their city to best suit allows for new development. This brings up the point that the architect and urban planners are in a pivotal position. When you add the political aspect to these decisions I am amazed anything gets done or changed. This process reminds me the importance of participating in elections, whoever is elected has a great power to influence the built environment. No matter if they decide to develop or not the position provides the opportunity to change and improve the built environment to best meet the needs of the citizens. I think back to European traveling and their urban plans with large piazza to have the city come together for lectures, or their open air market spaces that became a community in itself as well. These spaces were laid out with the intention of having the large square infront of the city hall. These medieval gathering spaces still serve their purposes. Today in larger cities It seems we are missing these spaces to provide community engagement. Maybe this lack of an open forum has lent to the current divide in politics. Could open squares and gathering spaces bridge the gap of political sides? Or would they provide a space to riot and damage the city?